


Keeping the Winter at Bay

by TuppingLiberty



Series: Tupping Liberty's prompt ficlet series [13]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canadian Shack, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-13 14:54:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9128899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TuppingLiberty/pseuds/TuppingLiberty
Summary: Finn's car breaks down on a mountain pass, and he decides to hoof it to the closest light he can see, hoping along the way that they'll take him in and not turn him away.Or: TuppingLiberty tries her hand at the Canadian Shack trope. :D





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eowynlotr08](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eowynlotr08/gifts).



> Redlipstickandhairbows recently suggested on tumblr that I write "person A doesn't dress warmly enough so person B chirps them while taking care of them?" and it turned into this. Enjoy. :)
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I am *not* an outdoorsy person. So any details about actual cabins in actual Canadians woods and what they would and wouldn't have, well, if it bothers you, you're just going to have to take a deep breath and either decide to hit that back button or keep going and let it wash over you. ;)

Finn leaned his head against the steering wheel. Every option was exhausted. Every time he thought things couldn’t get worse, they somehow did. 

It had started with the snow storm. Finn didn’t especially like to drive in the snow, and he’d had to leave after work, so it was dark, and- 

Then he realized he’d forgotten his cell phone at work. Which would be fine, to be cut off from communication, except-

Somewhere along the lonely mountain pass, in the heaviest snow they’d had so far, Finn’s car just...broke down. Since he was clueless around cars, he had no idea what had happened. But he hadn’t seen another car in over an hour, the snow was already covering the windshield, and it was getting colder by the second. 

He had a choice to make: stay in the car, and freeze to death here, or go out in the meager winter clothing he was wearing - he had some Yaktrax in the back that he could slide on these boots, and a hat and gloves, but all he had, coat-wise, was this hoodie - to hike to the light he could see in the distance.

Because a man showing up in a hoodie on a stranger’s doorstep was always greeted with open arms.  


Finn swallowed. Die here or die there? 

He really hoped he was being overdramatic. 

Bundling up as best he could, he left the car, flashlight in hand, and headed toward the small beacon of yellow light. It would have been faster to cut through the woods, but Finn trudged along the road, trying to give himself the biggest chance at getting rescued. 

When his feet started going numb with cold, he worried, but kept going, head down, making sure his feet were moving. He ran smack-dab into the post, bumping his head hard enough to feel it through the layers of hat and hoodie. He grunted in pain, and looked up. “Private Road,” he mumbled, and looked to the right. He could see it, kind of, in the snow, a long winding white path that led to the light he’d seen. Shivering, looking at the main road one last time, he turned away from it, and started the climb up the private road, praying the whole time.

When his boots finally hit the steps to the cabin, he moaned, grateful and anxious all at once. He leaned into the door jamb, using his last little bit of strength to knock on the door, then raising his hands to show he had nothing in them.

The door opened, and Finn almost moaned again at the heat that wafted out. “Please, help me,” he whispered. “I promise I-”

“Holy shit, get in here, buddy.”

Everything happened in a blur after that, the man who’d opened the door - and God, what a sight he was, all curly brown hair and bronze skin and heavy hand-knitted cardigan and snow pants - brushing the snow off of Finn’s body, then assessing his state of being. “Okay, we need to get you warmed up, fast. This might hurt, but that’s a good thing, okay?” The man kept up the constant chatter, and Finn was grateful, even if he only followed about half of it.

He didn’t even protest when the man started stripping off his clothing, and then he was being submerged in a hot bath which - yes, it hurt - but god, it felt amazing. Finn moaned again as his numb limbs began to spring back into life, loudly. “Oh, God, it’s like needles everywhere,” he mumbled.

Inexplicably, the man grinned. “Hey, there you are, buddy. Welcome back. Just, uh, keep everything submerged while I go put the kettle on. Um, I’m Poe, by the way. Poe Dameron.”

“Finn Herrick,” he replied, nodding at the man, going for a smile. “Thank you. Thank you, god, thank you.” He was shivering now, violent shakes that disturbed the water. “Thank you,” he repeated quietly.

The man’s touch on his shoulder was light now, less authoritative, probably now that Finn had regained his faculties. “Hey, Finn, you’re safe now. You’re going to be okay, all right?”

Finn nodded, thought it was probably hard to tell with his shivering.

“I’ll be right back, with some clothes that might fit, hopefully, and some tea. Just stay put, buddy.”

Finn twitched in the water, then let himself feel...safe...for the first time in hours. He let himself relax, as much as he could, with his limbs still on fire. By the time Poe came back, though, he was feeling relatively normal - normal enough to be embarrassed that he was naked in front of a complete stranger. A complete stranger with a heart of gold, apparently. 

He looked up and blushed, trying to cover his dignity, when Poe came back in with a steaming mug of tea and a stack of clothes. 

“You’re a little broader in the shoulders than me, so I got, um, stretchy stuff. And my baggiest pair of pajama pants. And, um, where’s the accent from?”

“Oh, uh,” Finn hesitated, having to reach up for the tea mug Poe was handing him with one of the hands that he was using to - ahem - “London. Formerly London. But now BC’s home. Vancouver.” He took a sip, obligingly, of the tea, and found it lovely, warming him inside and out. “Thank you, man.”

“Stay in for awhile longer, but don’t let it get chilly, we wouldn’t want to have to warm you up all over again, the hot water heater only heats enough at a time for like, a partial bath.” Poe pulled out an extra towel and set it out for him. “I’ll just be in the - well, you saw, there’s basically just the one room. I’ll be out there.”

Finn nodded, but Poe had already left. He lingered, just a little while longer, enjoying the tea, then got himself out of the tub and dried, his limbs back to normal. The pajamas worked, though Poe was right, the shirt was tight across his shoulders and chest. When he padded out in bare feet into the other room, Poe was spreading his clothes out on a rack in front of the wood stove. 

“I don’t have a dryer...well I don’t have a washer,” Poe explained with a shrug, “so this is the best I can do here.”

“You don’t have a washer?” 

Poe laughed a little at the incredulous look on his face. “Rental. I’m just here for a few more days of outdoorsy-ness before I head back to the city. Assuming I can get out of here after this storm. We like to get away.”

“We?”

As if on cue, there was a loud commotion outside, and then a ‘boof’ing at the door. Finn stepped back, but Poe casually opened the door and let in a huge Siberian husky, who leaped around the room, shaking off droplets of snow. Poe laughed again, and sunk his fingers into the husky’s fur. “Finn, this is Beebee, she gets a little stinky, but so do we all, you know? Beebee, Finn. Friend.” 

Hesitantly, Finn stuck out his hand, and Beebee sniffed it, then licked it, then turned to Poe and whimpered.

“Yeah, yeah, food.” Poe turned to the kitchen section of the cabin, and poured out a cup of kibble into a big bowl. “So, there’s no cell service here, one of the reasons I rent this place. But we can radio down the mountain to anyone who needs to know where you are.”

“Um, yeah, that’d be good. Someone was expecting me, they might send out the troopers if I don’t check in. Or she might come looking for me herself.”

“Girlfriend? Wife?”

“Friend, actually. Just a friend. But my best.” The question perked Finn’s interest though, and he looked at the man again with a different eye. Was he fishing?

“Ah, well, we’ll do that right away, then. Don’t want anyone worrying about you for longer than they need to.” Poe busied himself pouring his own cup of tea as Finn watched, then radioed the message “down mountain” to Poe’s closest point of contact, which was, apparently, a grocer about thirty miles away. “They’ll get the message to the local police, and to your friend,” he said with a warm smile when he’d finished. “As to staying here, well, it’s your best bet. We’ve got plenty of food, and I promise a good percentage of it isn’t even kibble. There’s a winter storm warning in effect through tomorrow, so they’ll start plowing after that. And, uh, I promise I’m not an axe murderer.”

“Believe me, I don’t want to be going out into that again. Thank you, though, for the hospitality. My wallet was in my pants, I’ve got a little cash, miraculously. Seems like everything is on card these days, don’t it?” Finn tried to smile warmly. 

“Dude, don’t even worry about it. If I had a nickel for every time I had to rescue someone from a snow storm…”

Finn winked. “Let me guess, you’d have a nickel.”

“Yeah, you’re pretty much new territory for me, buddy.” Poe laughed, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back on the sideboard. “Are you hungry at all? Bored? We don’t have much by way of entertainment, I mean… my entertainment is mostly my Kindle full of books, and BeeBee. Oh, and I think I have a deck of cards somewhere? But, oh, you’re probably tired.” 

Finn waited until the man had run himself out of words, amused. “Not especially. You, uh, mentioned cards?”

Poe grinned back, looking grateful that Finn had stopped his outburst. He found the cards in a pocket of his duffel, and when he was searching, Finn was totally  _ not _ checking out his ass. 

They ended up laying down on the rug in front of the fire to play Casino, then Sevens, then lost themselves in a fit of giggles over Speed. Finn learned that Poe was a charter pilot based out of Vancouver, that he loved anything outdoorsy, and that he was an adorably sweet dog owner. Actually, he was pretty sure BeeBee and Poe were equally besotted with each other. He also learned that it was easy to make Poe blush, and he was fairly confident that, given the earlier clues and the shy attempts Poe made at flirting, that Poe was interested in men. Or interested in him. 

If he wasn’t, though...if Finn was picking up on the wrong vibes, then it would make the rest of their hours together pretty awkward if Finn decided to act on the strong attraction he was feeling himself. He chewed his lip, weighing his options as he watched Poe put on water for soup.  Finn understood that the situation was a little weird - who developed an insta-crush in life-or-death situations? But he was also a big believer in fate, both of making your own, and of using the opportunities fate made available to you. This felt like one of those times where fate was giving him the opportunity, but he had to make the next step.

There was a lone dining chair, but Poe rustled up a small folding chair for fishing and settled down on it, insisting Finn take the nice one for his dinner. The kind gesture had Finn making his final decision. “Truth be told, I was always trying to get my ex-boyfriend to do outdoorsy stuff, like hiking, but he was a city boy through and through. It’s just so different here, you know? More opportunity than back in London.” He watched Poe’s face for a sign of, well,  _ anything _ . 

Poe instantly relaxed, his face softening. “Yeah, my last boyfriend was a lazy asshole.”

Finn made a commiserating noise even as he celebrated inside. “That sucks, man, sorry. That’s why they’re exes, though, right?” He offered a small smile.

“Yeah.” Poe glanced over at BeeBee, who was snoring softly in front of the stove. “It’s just been me an' her for the last few years, anyway. We make a pretty good duo.”

“I can see that,” Finn said truthfully. “Do you-” 

He was cut off by the electric lights flickering, then dying. “Uh-”

“It’s okay. Probably the generator running out of fuel.” Finn heard Poe rustling around, and then a torch was illuminating the cabin, and Finn could see the outline of Poe’s body as he continued to move around, and lit a couple of candles, until there was a nice glow. “You all good? Nothing hurt in the darkness?”

Finn smiled at the sincere question. Lord, he was snowed in with the sweetest man alive. “No, nothing hurt. All accounted for. Will it come back on? Sorry, I know nothing about generators.”

Poe winced. “Well- I could go out into the snow, there’s a rope connecting the cabin and the generator shack, and refuel.”

“Except it’s coming down like crazy out there,” Finn replied with a frown. “And it’s dark. And I used up all of your hot water earlier.”

“Yeah, well, I mean, normally I’d just rough it for the night, but since I have a guest and all.” Poe rubbed at the back of his neck nervously.

Finn shook his head. “No, I refuse to give you the okay to go risk life and limb just for a little power. We can make it, right?”

“Yeah, I mean, the snow is doing a great job of insulating us, and we’re already pretty warm in here, and I’ve got plenty of wood to keep the stove fire going for as long as we need it. It might get a little chilly in here toward dawn, but-” Poe glanced behind Finn, to the one...the one bed, Finn was just now registering, despite having noticed it earlier.

“We could, uh-” Finn took a step closer to Poe, who was looking radiant in the soft glow of the candles. “We could always huddle for warmth,” he said with a grin.

“Oh- oh?” Poe stumbled over his words, looking adorably nervous and eager all at once.

Finn took another step, and Poe held his ground, so Finn stopped right before him, definitely within his personal space. “Do you believe in fate?”

Poe shrugged, a cute wrinkle furrowing into his brow. “I don’t know.”

“I do,” Finn murmured, hand brushing over Poe’s cheek. “It brought me here, didn’t it?” He slid the hand down Poe’s arm, squeezing their fingers together. “What do you think? Should we call fate's bluff?”

“You are- intoxicating, Finn. Jesus.” The blush that crept across Poe’s cheeks was barely visible in the candlelight. Finn felt Poe’s hand grip his. “Yeah, fate. Does that mean I get to kiss you?”

Finn was smiling when he pulled Poe forward into the kiss. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When we last left off, Finn had just kissed Poe...

Poe broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against Finn’s, breathing heavily. “What are we doing?”

“Just a little kissing, man,” Finn replied, and Lord, how good he looked with the candlelight dancing in his eyes. “Or-” And then Finn was slipping his hand around Poe’s waist, taking Poe’s hand in his, and they were- they were  _ dancing. _

“You are, without a doubt, one of the most interesting men I’ve ever met, and I haven’t even really met you,” Poe murmured, unable to force the smile from his face as Finn led him around the small floor space of the cabin. 

“I didn’t know it could be like this,” Finn replied, admission clear in his voice. “I’ve done the whole thing. You know. Meet someone, take them out, figure there’ll be a spark there eventually, at this point you’ve invested enough time in them-”

“That you might as well keep going? Yeah. I’ve done that scene, too. And then it’s like, shit, I hit my thirties, no more time to fuck around.” Poe blushed when he revealed his age. 

“Thirties, huh?” Finn’s hand on Poe’s back nudged him in closer.

“32. You?”

“24,” Finn replied, and Poe hissed. Finn just chuckled a little. “Yeah, that’s a big gap. But, uh, it seems a shame to throw this feeling away, doesn’t it? My friend Rey is always telling me I act old and boring anyway.”

“I’ll try not to take offense to that,” Poe answered with a laugh.

“Oh, please don’t! I didn’t mean it that way. Just. Call me crazy, but I prefer a night in with a nice meal and a good show to watch than paying thirty bucks for a martini at some bar full of guys on the prowl, you know?” Finn swung him into a spin, and Poe laughed again.

“Mmm, that  _ is _ old and boring, Rey’s right.”

“I see how it is,” Finn muttered, before closing the gap between them and taking Poe’s mouth again. 

Poe’s head was spinning after the kiss, and the gentle rocking of the dance wasn’t helping. “I- I don’t do this. The one-night stand thing.”

“I don’t think that’s what we’re doing. At least I hope it’s not, because I don’t do that either.”

Poe moaned, pushing Finn two steps back, so his back was against the wall. Poe pressed against him, crushing their lips together. His hands left Finn’s body and swept up to Finn’s cheeks, steadying him, steadying himself, as he gave the kiss everything he had. When he broke it off, his breath was heaving, and he buried his face into Finn’s neck. “Christ. If you asked me if you could fuck me right now, I’d let you,” Poe admitted, astonishment showing in his voice.

Finn groaned. “I’m not going to ask, then. Because I don’t want you to regret it in the morning.” He stroked over Poe’s hair, and Poe hummed unconsciously. “Besides, maybe I want  _ you _ to fuck  _ me. _ ”

Poe gave a strangled laugh and leaned back, looking into Finn’s eyes. “Seriously, this has never happened to me before.”

Finn swept Poe’s hair back from his face. “Good.”

“Fate, huh?”

“Fate,” Finn nodded.

“How the fuck did fate know my sexual orientation?”

Finn snorted. “I don’t know, I try not to question it.” He fought back a yawn, and Poe frowned.

“You should get to bed. You’ve had a long, scary, stressful day, and I’d hate for you to get sick.” Poe cupped Finn’s face, smoothing his thumbs over Finn’s scruffy cheeks. 

Finn nodded, slowly, letting his eyes close at the sensation. “You should join me. You know. Keep me warm. Keep me company until I fall asleep.”

Maybe it was the sleepy warmth of the soup in his stomach, or the flickering candlelight, or Bebe snoozing peacefully on the rug. Or maybe it was the quiet sincerity in Finn’s face. No angle, no agenda. Just a sweet offer to sleep together, literally. “Okay,” Poe whispered, sweeping a kiss across his cheek. “Let me just get ready.”

Finn reciprocated with a kiss on his forehead. “Can I help?”

Poe shook his head. “Go ahead and lay down. I’ll be there soon.”

Getting ready for the night involved banking the fire in the oven, offering the outdoors to Bebe one last time, and blowing out the candles. He used the flashlight to guide himself to bed, then buried himself under the fluffy down comforter, tentatively searching for Finn’s body. As his eyes adjusted, Finn scooted over, until he was lying against Poe’s body. “Cooooolllld,” Finn complained. “Close the blanket.” 

Poe snorted, wrapping his arms around Finn, letting Finn adjust his positioning until his face was tucked in Poe’s neck, and made sure the blanket wasn’t letting out any heat. He dropped a kiss onto Finn’s hair, and tucked him under his chin. “Gnight, Finn.”

“Gnight, Poe,” Finn mumbled against his chest, accent heavier with sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> This got really long so I made it it's own fic, so if you'd like to see more of these guys, or what happens next, holler at me below. 
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated. <3
> 
> I'm @animalasaysrauer on tumblr. Come join me for stormpilot, check please, and pretty much everything else I enjoy that crosses my dash. And sometimes I post tumblr-exclusive stuff.


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